Lisa Kershner and John ‘Butch’ West: Legislation would remove enforcement flaw in Maryland public information law. Lawmakers should pass it.

Right now, transparency in government is critically important. In some areas, peoples’ trust and faith in the ability of government to act in their best interests and to protect their health and welfare has diminished. If properly functioning and fairly enforced, Maryland’s Public Information Act can do much to restore that trust and faith. In Maryland, the “PIA” promotes government transparency by affording citizens’ a broad right of access to records of State and local government agencies “with the least cost and delay.” Though the right to access records is subject to certain exceptions for confidentiality, privacy, and privilege, the core of the PIA is a belief in the right of citizens to know what their government is up to.